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How can global obesity epidemic be reversed? A call for “smart food policies.”

Harvard RWJF Health & Society Scholar program alumna and current Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health faculty member Christina Roberto, PhD, is lead author of a paper that is one in a six-part series devoted to obesity in The Lancet. The paper has received much attention in the press including articles in Harvard Gazette, reuters.com, FoxNews, skynews, livescience, medicalnewstoday, The Toronto Star, Huffington Post, and medicalXpress. Learn more from…

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Researchers revisit Mendelian Randomization studies of effect of BMI on depression

Harvard Pop Center faculty members Laura Kubzansky, PhD, Ichiro Kawachi, MD, PhD, and M. Maria Glymour, PhD, have co-authored a study published in American Journal of Medical Genetics Part B: Neuropsychiatric Genetics that revisits Mendelian Randomization studies (analyses based on genetic instrumental variables) of the effect of body mass index (BMI) on depression.

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Are socioeconomic & demographic factors driving inequalities in BMI at the population level? Maybe not.

Harvard Bell Fellow Fahad Razak, MD, Pop Center faculty member S V Subramanian (Subu), PhD, and Pop Center doctoral student Aditi Krishna are authors of a study in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition that explores population-level changes in the BMI distribution over time, looking carefully at inequalities in weight gain between groups vs. within groups (interindividual). The findings suggest that future research should focus on understanding factors driving inequalities…

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Does income level have impact on one’s response to calorie menu labeling?

Harvard Pop Center affiliated faculty member Jason Block, MD, MPH, and former Harvard RWJF scholar Christina Roberto, PhD, have published a Reply in JAMA in response to a letter that raises the issue of calorie labeling across socioeconomic backgrounds. The letter was in response to their September 3 Viewpoint entitled “Potential Benefits of Calorie Labeling in Restaurants.”

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Christina Roberto honored with research grant during Obesity Week in Boston

Harvard RWJF Health & Society Alumna Christina Roberto, PhD, was recently awarded The Obesity Society’s (TOS) 2014 Early-Career Research Grant. Currently an Assistant Professor of Social & Behavioral Sciences and Nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health, Roberto was honored with the grant during Obesity Week, the annual scientific and educational conference for obesity professionals which took place in Boston during the week of November 2-7, 2014.  “The award…

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Obese Kids Likely to Become Obese Teens, Study Shows

Mark Schuster, MD, PhD, a Harvard Pop Center affiliated faculty member, is lead author on a study in Pediatrics that shows that over 80% of kids obese at age 11 are obese at age 16.  The study, online now and in the upcoming December print issue, is featured in U.S. News and World Report and Canada’s Global News.

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Gillman co-author on Group-Based Intervention Effective in Lowering Gestational Weight Gain Among Obese Women

Harvard Pop Center faculty member Matthew Gillman, MD, has co-authored a study that reports on the effectiveness of an intervention aimed at lowering the gestational weight gain (GWG) among obese women, as well as reducing the likelihood of large-for-gestational age (LGA) babies.

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Gortmaker Looks for Cost-Effective Solutions to Childhood Obesity

Harvard Pop Center affiliated faculty member Steven Gortmaker, PhD, is principal investigator on CHOICES Project (Childhood Obesity Intervention Cost-Effectiveness Study), a 3-year study that will evaluate the cost-effectiveness of 40 interventions designed to prevent childhood obesity.

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Thurston’s Study on Hot Flashes and Weight Loss in the News

A study by Harvard RWJF Scholar Alum Rebecca Clark Thurston, PhD,  on the connection between a reduction in menopausal hot flashes and weight loss has received some press in The Pittsburgh Business Times. The study has been published in the July online issue of Menopause.